Pipe is commonly used for conveying fluids from one location to another. For example, pipe is used for conveying oil, water, or other liquids along the surface of the ground or in a horizontal trench below the surface of the ground. Ordinarily, the pipe sections are threaded at each end such that each pipe section can be threadably connected to the next pipe section. Alternatively, the pipe sections are not threaded but rather are welded end-to-end.
Although powered apparatus is commonly used for connecting and disconnecting pipe sections used in vertical environments (e.g., oil wells), pipe sections for use in horizontal environments are conventionally connected manually. That is, one pipe section is aligned with another pipe section and then the pipe sections are either threaded together or are welded together by means of manual labor. This is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.
Pipe sections which are not threaded may be secured together by welding, zaplocking, or fusing (plastic) pipe. The zaplock method uses pipe which has a bell shape on one end. The other end of the pipe has a groove around it. Epoxy is applied to the grooved end of the pipe which is then forced into the bell shaped end of another pipe section to form a joint.
The conventional process for welding sections of pipe together involves laying pipe sections onto timber skids along the intended path of the pipeline. A bulldozer with a sidearm known as a sideboom is then used to cradle the pipe sections in proper position so that they can be welded together. Sometimes the pipe sections are also doped and taped before the welded pipe is lowered into a ditch.
There has not heretofore been provided apparatus for laying pipe having the advantages of the apparatus of the present invention.